Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Buy Photo

One of the many showrooms designed to provide inspiration to the many ways IKEA products can be used together. One week before the grand opening of IKEA in Oak Creek, the store is ready to go with only a few final preparations to take place. Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two years ago, my husband and I remodeled the closet in our bedroom. We measured, planned and figured out how to install several Ikea shelving units. It took us three different trips to our closest Ikea, in Schaumburg, to get the project done.

Three trips with our children in tow.

So you can imagine our excitement at the new Ikea store opening up in Oak Creek on May 16. It's the same excitement that many moms and dads in Milwaukee share. Not only because it'll be great to have the remodeling and furnishing resources so much closer, but also because it's a fun place to spend a few hours. Even with our kids in tow.

Designed with kids in mind

Because at Ikea, they've thought about the fact that kids are drawn to trying out the furniture their parents are shopping for. They've not only thought about it — they invite it. Store manager Samantha Gravina said, "We're okay with kids interacting with our products. If this is furniture that's going to function in your home, it's important for the people who are going to be living with it to be able to try it out."

It's obvious throughout the store that the Ikea designers had children in mind when making their products. You can see it in the miniature versions of the furniture in the store's kids room displays and in the lower-to-the ground displays. Public affairs manager Latisha Bracy said, "We've designed things so kids can 'shop' right along with their parents. They can do things like pick out their own kid-sized utensils."

A place for kids to play

Buy Photo

One of the three-sides Play Trees that will be found throughout the Oak Creek IKEA.(Photo: C.T. Kruger/Now News Group)

Of course, as welcome as kids are to do their own "shopping" and try out the furniture, there's only so much browsing kids can take — which is why there are strategically placed play towers throughout the store. The towers have different activities and puzzles to engage kids. Gravina said, "They're basically distraction points for kids. We have them in the areas where parents are most likely to hover for awhile, maybe while they're doing something like looking at a sofa."

But, if the play towers and miniature furniture isn't enough to keep your kids occupied, there's always Smaland, a dropoff play area in the front of the store where potty-trained kids from 37 to 54 inches can spend time playing in a ball pit, watching movies and doing arts and crafts.

Gravina said child safety has been taken into consideration as trained staff will be supervising the kids, and only the parent who signs in the child will be able to sign him out. "That's important to keep in mind," she said. "Sometimes one parent will sign in the child and then the other parent will come back to try to sign him out. It has to be the same parent."

Family friendly food

A Play Tree and high chairs in the restaurant at the Oak Creek IKEA.(Photo: C.T. Kruger/Now Media Group)

One thing that's sure to keep kids occupied is to feed them, especially since, as Gravina pointed out, a typical Ikea customer spends between two and three hours at the store.

The cafeteria-style restaurant, which will open everyday a half hour before store opening and close a half hour before the store closes, has family-friendly touches as well. There are different sizes of high chairs available, play towers, a nursing mother area and bottle warming stations.

There are even special touches like carts that are specially designed to hold meal trays. Gravina said, "That's nice for moms because if you have a big family, you don't have to juggle all the trays. Plus, if you have a little kid who wants to help out, you can let them push the cart."

And, as for the food itself? The Swedish meatballs are legendary at the Ikea restaurant with good reason. But there's also plenty that's specifically targeted toward kids.

The kids' meals include the famous Swedish meatballs or chicken meatballs served with seasonal vegetables or mashed potatoes; grilled chicken with strawberries, carrots and string cheese; chicken tenders with french fries; and pasta with tomato sauce.

And, for families with food allergies or other nutritional concerns, the ingredients and allergens will be posted on the menu.

It's clear from both the design and philosophy that Ikea is the place to go for not only family-centered shopping, but family-centered fun. Gravina summed it up well: "The biggest thing that's different about Ikea is that we believe that kids are the most important people in the world."

CLOSE

IKEA, the Swedish-founded, Dutch-based home furnishings company, is set to open its first Wisconsin store at I-94 and Drexel Avenue in Oak Creek on May 16.
CT Kruger/Now News Group